Taylor Hendrix on sun 9 nov 03
Neato Lee.
I was just looking in the Olsen book to refresh my memory about types of
kilns after my bagwall posting, and I ran across a kiln that Olsen
mentions. It is similar to these kilns in that it has side firing
burners. It was built by Nils and Herman Kalher from Denmark and it is a
salt kiln. If you have the second edition of Olsen's kiln book, check out
pages 116 and following. Or not; I know you are a busy guy.
Mayor Mel should be able to guide you to some photos of Abernathy's work.
He wrote that article on Abernathy not long ago.
Taylor in Waco
-----Original Message-----
From: Lee Love [mailto:Lee@MASHIKO.ORG]
Sent: Sun 11/9/2003 6:28 PM
To: CLAYART@LSV.CERAMICS.ORG
Cc:
Subject: Re: ann arbor kilns
Check these plans out:
http://www.ibremsen-potter.com/abernathy.html
Anybody know of photos of his work?
mel jacobson on sun 9 nov 03
a great many of you would be more than
amazed if you could spend some time with
j.t. abernathy.
i did a story on him for cm last year. i have
known him and about him for nearly 50 years.
his ideas on kilns is so different from the rest
of the world....and, many of those ideas have
been planted in my head. he was nils` first
teacher.
if you think i have strong opinions, just sit with
jt for an hour. he could take skin off your face
with his attitude about kilns.
no chimney, no bagwall, no venting.
of course all of his kilns have compressed air systems
on them. they are more commercial in idea than
art pottery. (and that may be his strong suit) he does
not abide by old potters attitudes. he claims most of
it is `hocus pocus`...his term.
i have an hour discussion of him on tape.
it is without a doubt a gem.
when he talks about claybody...man does he scald the
industry.
one of his lines `broad range clay is crap. you make
your clay to do a certain job. make it to fit what
you do, and only you. broad range is crap. stupid.`
one size fits all...he just laughs.
try underwear.
mel
From:
Minnetonka, Minnesota, U.S.A.
web site: my.pclink.com/~melpots
or try: http://www.pclink.com/melpots
new/ http://www.rid-a-tick.com
Lee Love on mon 10 nov 03
----- Original Message -----
From: "Taylor Hendrix"
> salt kiln. If you have the second edition of Olsen's kiln book, check out
> pages 116 and following. Or not; I know you are a busy guy.
Thanks Taylor.
I'm not sure how alike these two kilns are. Note that Abernathy's
design has no chimney, only a hole in the bottom front. I can't imagine
using salt in it. The potter would get as fumed as the pottery. :^)
Jerry Horning in Omaha (taught at Creighton until he died) used burners
in a similar way, with two at the bottom back of the kiln, on each side of
the chimney, and two more burners half way up the front wall.
He helped my friend Dirk Gilespie build a two chamber kiln, with
the chambers situated on each side of the stack. Using different
combinations of dampers: You could fire them both together, firing the
second chamber with waste heat for bisque, or fire them both for glaze.
When the first chamber is finished, the burners swiveled to be used on the
second chamber, or fire either chamber separately. A really versitle
design. My next kiln with be some type of two chambered kiln.
--
Lee In Mashiko, Japan
http://Mashiko.org
Web Log (click on recent date):
http://www.livejournal.com/users/togeika/calendar
Gail Dapogny on mon 10 nov 03
Quite a while back, I was part of the dialogue about our JT kiln at the
guild (the one being discussed), and I mentioned (with all the bravado
of someone who doesn't know enough about computers and photos!) that I
would be able to take some photos of the kiln and post them. Well, I
was stymied by my lack of know-how. Now I actually know how to do it,
but, since my computer was stolen and I am still installing/getting
acquainted with/coping with the glitches of my new one, I haven't
thought about downloading photos yet. But I promise I will do so very
soon and will post them (with my newfound expertise....ha!!).
JT once told me that the room which houses the kiln (a small room in
which we have two gas kilns and two electric kilns) IS the chimney.
And yes, we have no formal venting, although we have two strong fans
that take the room's air out, and a powerful intake fan, and of course
we keep the door closed. Probably, we would be better off with some
up-to-date vent system.
The kiln itself is about 97 cub feet, and has 9-inch thick walls with
what JT told me are "28" bricks (could he have meant 26 or did they
make 28s long ago? This kiln was built in the mid 50s.) The door is
bricked (sigh) with 4 vent bricks which are closed during firing but
open during our overnight warmup) and a "peep" port two bricks high ---
about 8 inches -- in the bottom quarter which is where we view the
reduction flame. It is closed during cooling. The kiln cools for 36
hours.
There are 4 main burners two in front, two in back, each equipped with
a pilot valve which stays lit until about 1600 f. , plus 4 separate
atmospheric warmup ports and valves, just below the main burners. .
After the overnight warmup with the temp at about 700
degrees--sometimes higher--we fire for 12-13 hours in 4 shifts. (Not
everyone fires; pretty much a small group of us who like kiln work.)
In fact, in a short while, I'll be going over to fire for several
hours. These days, getting ready for a holiday sale and with 28
students also producing pots, we are firing the big kiln about once a
week.
IB Remsen (also a guild member but who has his own smaller version of
the same kiln) showed photos and gave a talk last year at NCECA. Oops
-- I just saw that Taylor has I B's web site posted. But I promise to
take my own photos soon.
Mel's article, printed last year in the May issue of CM, is wonderful,
and includes a nice sidebar by Nils Lou.
---Gail
On Nov 9, 2003, at 8:52 PM, Taylor Hendrix wrote:
>
> I was just looking in the Olsen book to refresh my memory about types
> of
> kilns after my bagwall posting, and I ran across a kiln that Olsen
> mentions. It is similar to these kilns in that it has side firing
> burners. It was built by Nils and Herman Kalher from Denmark and it
> is a
> salt kiln. If you have the second edition of Olsen's kiln book, check
> out
> pages 116 and following. Or not; I know you are a busy guy.
>
> Mayor Mel should be able to guide you to some photos of Abernathy's
> work.
> He wrote that article on Abernathy not long ago.
>
> http://www.ibremsen-potter.com/abernathy.html
>
> Anybody know of photos of his work?
>
> _______________________________________________________________________
> _______
Gail Dapogny gdapogny@umich.edu
1154 Olden Road
Ann Arbor, Michigan 48103
http://www.silverhawk.com/ex99/dapogny (single historical photo - no
longer
Lee Love on mon 10 nov 03
Check these plans out:
http://www.ibremsen-potter.com/abernathy.html
Anybody know of photos of his work?
--
Lee In Mashiko, Japan
http://Mashiko.org
Web Log (click on recent date):
http://www.livejournal.com/users/togeika/calendar
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